Young & Jacksons Cider Bar: Rooftop, Young and Jacksons, corner Swanston & Flinders Streets, Melbourne, 9650 3884
My score: 3/5
Meeting friends under the Flinders Street Station clocks is an easy way to partake of Melbourne tradition but it can get messy if you don’t enjoy the waft of teenage pheromones or having the word of Jesus rammed into your skull. Meeting at Young and Jacksons, the pub across the road, has the same whiff of history but it’s less randomly unpleasant than the railway corner. Y&Js is much better than it used to be: there’s very little old-man-marinated-in-beer about it. Rather, it’s a spacious, democratic institution that welcomes the masses for imbibing and munching.
The hipster rating isn’t high but there are microbrews and thoughtful food with pleasing attention given to gluten-avoiders and vegetarians. That other minority – smokers – is taken care of on the rooftop, a fake-grassed bulwark without a view but with room dozens of puffers and their hacking friends on stools, benches and banana lounges. The rooftop is sheltered by awning, roof and wall but it’s defined as outdoors for the purposes of a Victorian regulation that states ‘Smoking is permitted in outdoor dining or drinking areas, unless the outdoor area has a roof, as well as walls that cover more than 75 per cent of the wall area.’ Anyhow, strong fans blow much smoke away and ashtrays are cleaned frequently.
Cider is the new craft fizz. School yourself here: there are eight ciders on tap, more by bottle and Scrumpy Cider from an oak barrel. I liked the gently spritzed, crisp Napoleone pear cider and the richer, fruity Kelly Brothers apple cider. The food is straightforward drinking fodder and it’s pretty good. An exuberant, snacky menu includes Naked Bugs, the pick of the bunch. The ‘naked’ is a mystery as the morsels of Moreton Bay bug meat are respectably clothed in crisped spring roll pastry; kaffir lime dipping sauce enlivens a good nibble. It’s hard to complain about salt-and-pepper calamari with frisky lemon aioli or cheesy kransky sausage, nicely grilled, stuffed in a roll over caramelised onions and slathered in mustard and tomato sauce. The menu is being tweaked to reflect the cider focus: look out for cider sorbets and apple and pear pies.
Overall, I like the place. The drinking is good and the food isn’t bad, especially for the price. Best of all, it’s nice to check into a Melbourne icon every now and then, especially one with a clue about the future.
See their website
First Published in The Age,February 20, 2011
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